But for now, we’re breaking down your homeschool journey into bite-sized pieces.
Let’s making the journey easy-peasy.
Let’s make it less stressful.
Because you’re more likely to quit if you charge ahead at super-parent speed.
It’s all too easy to get burned out, discouraged, and feel like the worse homeschool parent on the planet.
But before you fall into the depths homeschooling despair, try these tips that make homeschooling a more simple journey!
Easy Homeschooling Tips for the Busy Parent
Easier Homeschooling Tip #1: Hire or barter for help.
Whatever responsibilities you can hire out or barter for, do it!
I’m completely for striving to be the virtuous woman in Proverbs 31.
I strive to clean my home, run a business, take care of my family’s clothing needs, cook the meals etc….but did you notice the virtuous woman mentioned in Proverbs 31 doesn’t homeschool?
Yet, homeschooling is a huge responsibility that moms are tackling today.
In order to stay sane during the school year and still be able do some of the family tasks you’ve always loved, you should absolutely consider hiring out help.
If you have teens, you can barter with them to do extra cleaning or cooking.
For instance, give them a later bedtime on the weekend, give them extra treats from your secret stash of treats, or let them watch a movie after dinner on a school night. (Because those are all not-so-normal happenings!)
What tasks could you hire out?
Here’s a few ideas!
Light cleaning a few times per week.
Cheap take-out dinners.(Watch for sales or coupons!)
But once I bought a set of her favorite books, the Amelia Bedelia Series, she perked right up and looked forward to reading everyday.
My youngest child is into the book series Diary of a Wimpy Kid (which I don’t recommend every book in this series…sometimes they get more crude than our family approves of!), The Adventures of Tin Tin, and Super Heroes.
I try to weave those interests into all aspects of his learning and that makes homeschooling more fun for both of us!
Why is this an easy-peasy homeschooling tip?
Because most homeschool stress stems from teaching kids who don’t want to learn.
If you teach concepts using your child’s personal interests, you can increase their love for learning!
This makes school much easy for the teacher and the student!
Easier Homeschooling Tip #2: On Stressful days, Cut Back
Even in my traditional school days, I remember the teachers assigning us “even” or “odd” numbers for our multiplication or division problem worksheets.
This way we still got plenty of exercises done, but weren’t overwhelmed.
If you or your child is struggling on a particular day, don’t be afraid to shave off a little bit of the repetitive busy work.
Toddler and preschoolers can use the magic rug for quiet activities.
Older kids can learn to do quiet reading on the “magic rug” and teens can do homework on the “magic rug.”
This gives everyone a quiet, but different type of place to complete school-related acuities.
It’s also an easy way to get all the kids quiet if you need about 20 minutes of quiet time yourself.
Often times I announce “time for magic rug time!” and set a timer.
Everyone gets academic work done quietly and in the same area.
This makes it easy to keep an eye on everyone!
It’s a true sanity saver for our big and loud family!
Easier Homeschooling Tip #4: Plan Field Trips for All Ages
Plan a field trip about every six weeks to break up the monotony of learning at home.
Make sure the field trips work for the ages of all of your children. This way, everyone gets this experience and you’re not overly exhausted with making it work for each specific grade.
Children’s museums, art museums, the local newspaper, zoos, science centers, and even plays based on classic literature can all constitute a field trip.
You can also prepare printables beforehand of questions each child needs to answer on your field trip to ensure they’re thinking and learning on their special day out!
Easier Homeschooling Tip #5: Wake up early.
I cannot stress this easy-peasy tip enough!
Getting up early helps you enjoy some quiet time — alone.
Devotions, exercise, light cleaning, and a quick breakfast are all helpful to help focus and prepare for a busy homeschool day!
Easier Homeschooling Tip #6: Set up a bedtime for yourself and your kids.
Wow…I did not realize how important this was to our family until my health started going downhill.
But after ensuring I was in the bed before 10PM nightly, I saw a difference in myself and my family.
